Reynolds Rangers
by Croclover95
Summary: An elite unit resides within the UNSC Army, deployed for special operations around the galaxy.. and they aren't the Spartans. Project 82 deploys a special unit, the 82nd Ranger division. This is the story of the 4/325... Ghost Battalion.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**06:15 hours, September 18th, 2552 (Military Calender)/ Epsilon Eridani System, Planet Tribute, city of Bahl'al**

Sergeant Major Jacob Reynolds' eyelids twitched as he came back to consciousness. He half opened his eyes, blinked, and looked around. The building he was in had nearly collapsed from the impact, with most of the building above him incinerated and the wall to his left was half destroyed and the rebars in what was left of the ceiling above him were hanging down. He had been knocked flat onto his backside from the shock wave.

He looked at his left arm... well, the stub of which was left of it. The energy sword had cut his arm off a few inches above his elbow. A plasma burn is an incredibly painful wound, a plasma bolt through your gut, which to his displeasure, he had, is twice as painful, having your arm chopped of with a plasma sword and you've got one of the most painful wounds you could ever have. And the one thing Jacob had found out was that plasma would not stop burning, it just kept on burning and without treatment or if the soldier started panicking, they could easily pass out from the pain or die of shock.

Jacob had to train himself to keep calm under stressful situations and when he was hit as well. Due to this, soldiers had given him the nickname "Ice man", but his most used nickname was "Devil Dog", because of the way he fought his battles, like a dog outta Hell.

After a few moments he tried to move. Once he tried a wave of pain spread through his body, starting at his gut. He gasped heavily, his eyes went wide and he reached his right hand up to his gut, but felt something sticking out. After a moment, he slowly looked down and saw a large rebar... _Sticking_ through his back and out of his gut.

The shock wave from the impact must've knocked a rebar loose and also knocked him in it. Feeling bold ,and possibly a little Rambo, he tried to move forward to try and get himself free of the rebar. The pain was immense, he felt like his insides were on fire and he felt the warmth of his blood on his hands. He screamed in agony and stopped trying to move forward.

He hung his head and began to sob. He wasn't crying from the pain, he had gotten used to it after the hell he had gone through over the past 7 years. But that was physical pain, a pain much easier to deal with than the pain of what he had done. His whole battalion, eleven hundred men, wiped out from a single explosion and, worst yet, _he_ had ordered it.

Eleven hundred men died, because he sent them, along with himself, to their deaths. And there would be no memorial for these soldiers, no tribute to their lives given, no memory to the bravery of their last stand against an unstoppable foe. But that was the life of the 82nd Ranger division, wasn't it? To never be remembered because, technically, you didn't even exist, and neither did the rest of the division. To be used by the UNSC as, in mild terms, an expendable asset. The division was kept classified because if people back home found out men were being used as, to put it bluntly, cannon-fodder, the repercussions to follow would be devastating to the already devastated government. And, because of it, no one would remember what this battle was like.

But Jacob didn't want to be remembered, he hadn't joined the UNSC for that, he wanted to do his part in the fight against the Covenant. He never asked to be a leader, nor had he asked to be a part of this unit, who's sole creation was to fight one force and one force only, but he had no choice. But he wanted his men remembered, because as his dad had said before, "_Any man who gives his life for this colony deserves to be remembered"_.

This was, by far, one of the best divisions in the entire UNSC, and he had the honor of leading these men through some of the toughest engagements of the human-covenant war.

But now, these men, every last one of them, were now gone...and it was all because of him.

He stopped sobbing when he heard a sort of screech... one he had come to recognize in his combat experience... as well as his nightmares.

The screech was followed by the sound of something stumbling out side the door of the building. Jacob looked around for a weapon, an assault rifle, pistol, knife, anything to help fight. But he couldn't find anything, he was defenseless. There would be no one to help him, there would be no rescue for him, all he could do was sit and pray that God could forgive him of all wrong he did, 'cause Jacob sure couldn't forgive himself.

The source of the screech slowly peeked around the corner of the door. It looked like the cross between a raptor and a vulture, and acted just as nasty. Once it saw that Jake was un-armed, it's face twisted into, what Jake thought, an evil grin.

The skirmisher, a subspecies of the covenant jackal, stepped out of cover and started limping slowly towards him, holding a Plasma pistol in it's hands. It stopped just in front of him, and aimed the pistol at his head.

The pistols' end started to glow with a green aura and Jacob knew what it was going to do. Execution style kill, typical for the covenant once they found any civilian or un armed soldier, it actually surprised Reynolds how blood thirsty these alien buggers were and how intent they were to destroying all humans... And he knew he had ticked this particular covey off, he'd be pretty ticked of too if his leader was killed in such a fashion. Jacob had, narrowly, which was an understatement, escaped this kind of situation multiple times before.

But this time Jacob knew that there was no way out of this one, he knew that after all of this time of fighting, all of this time of cheating death of his rightful victory... Death would have his victory.

There was no doubt in Jacob's mind... He was going to die.


	2. Chapter 1

**I decided to upload this chap since it was Fathers day. I think we all feel something special for our parents, as I've learned over the years, and anyone who has a relationship with their Father or Mother KNOWS how important they are in their lives. This Chapter is to show what soldiers leave behind when they go to was. This chap is for all of the dads. HOOAH!**

**Chapter 1**

"_Why did you join the marines?" Jacob Reynolds asked his dad at the age of 11._

_Carl Reynolds smiled at his son." Because my dad was in the UNSC. I always wanted to be like my dad." He looked down and his smile slowly faded." I don't think I've amounted to what he did._

"_I think you have." Jacob chirped, proudly._

_Carl's smile returned." You really think so?" He asked._

"_Yep." Jacob stated proudly._

_He chuckled a bit at his enthusiasm. Jacob had always had enthusiasm, from the day he was born to this day he had always tried to make the best of the day he had and had fun doing it... which also, at times, got him into trouble._

_But Carl had been proud of his sons enthusiasm nonetheless, he knew how much it could help you and others in life._

_Jacob was a typical kid, but at the same time not so typical. He had an unbridled enthusiasm almost everywhere he went and was, at times, a little crazy. He would always try to put a smile on everyone's face with his antics and ,most of the time, succeeded. _

_But the one thing that made Jacob unique was that he was... different. He was about a head taller than everyone else in his school, had a little more energy, and was obsessed with history. He studied non-stop about the past of the human race, and was really interested in the history warfare, such as Alexander the greats time, medieval, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st century warfare. But he also felt a little more distant from everyone else, like there was something about him that_

_Suddenly, Carl heard ringing in his pocket, Carl Reynolds pulled out a cell phone and spoke on it." Yeah?"_

_Carl sat there for long moment, then frowned." Alright, I'll be there in a bit." He hung up the phone and sighed sadly, Jacob immediately knew what was wrong._

"_They wanna send you out, huh?" Jacob asked._

_Carl turned his head towards his son." Yeah."_

_Jacob sighed downheartedly. Every time Carl would get leave he was always called back into an operation. Jacob sniffled a bit, Carl noticed and knelt down to his son._

"_It's alright son." He said in a gentle tone." Do you remember what I told you about a soldiers duty?"_

"_A soldiers duty is to protect what is right and stand up against the corruption and evil of the world."_

_Carl smiled." Right, and don't worry, I'll come back, I promise."_

_But what if you don't come back?" Jacob asked, tears starting to form in his eyes._

_Carl's smile faded, he knew how much a son could miss his father if he went away and it was made worse by the fact that the child knew he may not return. Then he had an idea, he looked Jacob in the eyes." If that's the case.." His voice trailed off as he reached into his pocket." Then I want you to have this."_

_He pulled something out of his pocket. Jacob couldn't see it because Carl had his hand closed. Once he opened his hand, revealing a ribbon with stripes of red, white and blue. Attached to that was a 5 pointed golden star with a laurel wreath encircling rays from the center and a small(3/16 inch) silver star superimposed in the center. The Silver Star._

" _I was awarded this back in 2529 during the Harvest campaign." He said."_

_Jacob looked at his dad with wide eyes." And you're giving it to me?_

"_Yeah." Carl smiled as he handed his son the medal, but then his smile faded." Just remember son." He pointed toward the medal." Soldiers don't fight for these...They don't fight for their country or colony or their home." He said." They fight for the man on their left and right.. Because besides God and the rifle in his hands..they're the only friends he's got... Don't forget that."_

_Jacob smiled." I won't dad."_

_Carl smiled." Good." He hugged his son who hugged back._

"_I love you dad."_

_Carl's smile broadened." I love you to son." _

_Then he let go of him and moved into his house, said goodbye to his wife and his 2 year old girl, then walked into his car and he backed out of the driveway._

_Jacob, knowing this could be the last time he sees him, snapped a crisp salute at his dad, their way of saying "Goodbye"_

_Carl drove out of the driveway and drove off until Jacob could no longer see him. He never knew he would never see him again..._

_4 years later..._

**0600 hours, May 7th, 2546(Military calender)/ Sol System, Planet Earth, Fayetteville NC**

Wakey wakey sleepy head." A six year old girl named Lauren said as she jumped up and down on her brothers bed.

Jacob groaned as he woke up." Okay sis, I'm up." He groaned as he sat up and wiped the sleep out of his eyes.

Good." She said with a wry grin, then she knelt down and hugged him." Happy Birthday Jakey."

Jacob smiled at his little sister and hugged her back." Thanks sis." He said.

After a moment she let go, then raised a brow." Is being sixteen really sweet?"

Jacob shrugged." Just as sweet as any other birthday." He replied. He wasn't just excited about turning sixteen, he had always been excited on every birthday he had, but he was old enough to be apart of something he thought greater than himself.

He was brought back to reality when his sister had started talking again." Ha! Now Cindy owes me a candy bar."

Jake cocked his brow." You made a bet?"

Lauren's' eyes widened, she had been caught. She paused, smiled nervously and replied." No."

Jacob sighed." What have I told you?"

Lauren hung her head in defeat." That betting is bad and it isn't what God wants us to do."

Jacob smiled." And what does God want us to do?"

"Try and do our best everyday."

Good." He put a hand on her shoulder, she looked up at him, saw his smile and smile back." And don't worry, I won't tell mom."

"THANK YOU!" She hugged him as tight as she could, Jacob felt the wind rush out of him from the force of which she hit him in the hug.

After a short moment, Lauren let go and left the room to let Jake get through his morning routine.

Jacob Reynolds got up from his bed and went to his bathroom. He turned on the sink faucet and splashed some water on his face, the cool water felt soothing on his skin. He looked into the mirror." _You're starting to look like you're father when he was growing up_." His mothers voice said in his head.

His mothers words made him think about his dad. It had been 4 years since his dad left his home...and didn't return.

8 weeks after Carl left, some officers from the Office of Naval Intelligence arrived at their house. They had told them that on February 15th 2542, Carl Reynolds had been killed by the covenant forces. He had been posthumously awarded with the Cross of Valor for taking a plasma grenade to save his team. Since then Jacob and his family had put the medal in a frame along side some pictures of Carl. Written on one of the pictures was "_Forever remembered_".

After he finished brushing his teeth and showering, he walked across his room toward his dresser. He rubbed his hand across it and sighed.

In his spare time, Carl Reynolds would make and sell furniture to neighbors. He had made this dresser 2 years before he died.

Atop of the dresser was a small, wooden chest. Jacob opened it and inside the chest was the silver star his dad had given him 4 years ago. He took it out of the chest, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth." I haven't forgot, dad." he whispered, tears starting to form in his eyes. He closed his eyes to let the tears flow down his face and memories flood throughout his mind before he neatly put the medal back into the chest and closed the top and walked downstairs

Wow, that smells delicious." Charlotte Baker said to her sister, Judy, who was also Jacobs mother.

"Thanks, I learned the recipe from Carl." She smiled at first, but then her smile slowly disappeared as she thought about Carl

Charlotte noticed and put a comforting hand on Judy's shoulder." Do you need minute?"

Judy wiped a tear from her eye." No, it's alright." She replied, her voice cracking slightly.

Charlotte sighed, she couldn't begin to think how hard it was to lose someone that close to you, she didn't want to. There was a moment if silence, then the sound of foot steps, they looked over and saw Lauren skipping down the stairs.

A big smile spread across Judy's face." Morning Sweety."

Lauren ran to her mother and wrapped her small arms around her in a hug." Morning mommy."

"What are you doing up so early?" Judy asked.

"I was waking up Jakey and telling him happy birthday." Lauren replied, letting go of her mom and practically jumping up and down.

"Well that was very nice of you." Judy said." Would you please tell grandpa that breakfast is ready?

"Okay." She chirped excitedly, then she ran off to find her grandpa.

Travis Baker sat on the couch in the living room, watching television. He grunted as he heard General Roland talk about the victory over Ravanna. "_Victory."_ Travis snorted in his mind. Travis still had close ties with the UNSC, despite his retirement, and he knew just how it goes when it came to fighting the covenant and, even more so, how the UNSC make the rare victories they do have sound like triumphs. It was a victory, all covenant ground forces destroyed, navy repelled and the planet wasn't glassed. What they failed to tell the public was that over 3000 marines were lost on the ground, 130 ships in space, along with 4 ODP stations, and 1 SPARTAN-II "MIA".

"_Some victory."_ Travis thought himself.

Though the Spartan II program had not been introduced to the public, he knew who they were, because he had fought with them before...and had watched one die in front of his very eyes.

Travis had a distinguished career in the UNSC. He had lived in fayetteville fighting in every land battle of the war since the Harvest campaign all the way up to the siege of the Atlas moons, where he had lost his right leg at the knee down from an angry Jackal releasing an overcharged Plasma bolt. He was lucky, the medic said, the plasma had sealed the popliteal artery and prevented him from bleeding to death. Afterwards he was honorably discharged and moved in with his daughter, Judy Reynolds. He had a balding spot on the back of his head and gray hair, understandable for a 65 year old.

Lauren walked up to her grandpa." Grandpa, mommy says breakfast is ready." She said.

"Tell her I'll be there in a minute." He said, grabbing his crutches that were on the side of the recliner.

After he grabbed his crutches, he hoisted himself up onto them and hobbled toward the kitchen. As he moved toward the kitchen, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs, he looked over and saw Jacob walking down the stairs.

He smiled." Morning Jake. How's the birthday boy doing this morning?" He chuckled, knowing Jake hated being called boy.

He sighed." Okay I guess." He replied plainly.

Travis raised a brow at him." Something wrong?" He asked.

"Huh? No, nothings wrong." He replied

Travis stared a moment, not totally convinced. Jacob seemed...distant, like something was on his mind, and it hadn't been just today, he had been this way for the past several months. Like he had something he wanted to tell but was trying to find the right time to tell. But whatever it was, one thing Travis was sure of, it was about to change him.

The day went on pretty normally throughout the day for Jacob, hung out with his best friend, Sam, , minus the happy birthdays said to him by his best friends, and his other friends. After about night-fall after his birthday party the family sat down for a movie.

But all the day, something seemed to be on Jacobs mind. Judy had noticed as well as Travis, she couldn't take it anymore. But before she had a chance to say something, he spoke." Mom, there's something I really need to talk to you about."

Judy cocked a brow." Well, what is it?

He paused for what seemed to be an eternity. He wanted so bad to tell her what had happened. But it was so hard to tell her after what had happened so long ago. Finally he spoke." I'm...I'm..." He paused again, he started to scratch the back of his neck nervously, causing Judy to worry.

" I'm..enlisting into the UNSC marine corps." Jacob replied.

Judys eyes widened in shock and she jumped off of the couch." What?" She hollered in disbelief.

Jacob saw his mothers reaction, of course, so did the rest of his family, and tried to calm her down." Hold on mom,I know what you're thinking-"

" You have no idea what I'm thinking!" She snapped, causing Jake to jump." If you join the marines, they'll ship you out to fight." She said in rage, Jacob tried again to calm her down but was interrupted before he could say anything." And with the way this war is going, you..will..die!"

Finally, he had his chance to fit in what he wanted to say." If I die then at least I'll have done something to help in this war. Dad kept telling me that one soldier could change the tide of anythi-"

"Carl isn't here anymore!" Judy snapped." because he joined in on an un-winnable war."

Jake trembled with rage, saying his dad had died in vain had an affect on him drastically. All these years, he had kept telling himself his dad had died doing the right thing and his sacrifice would not go down the drain and his sacrifice would inspire others to keep fighting. But with his own mom, Carl's own wife, saying his death was for nothing, that went too far in Jacobs book, he finally said." No war is un-winnable!" And with that he marched up to his room.

He opened the door, walked in, slammed it shut and locked it. He walked over to his window and looked out at the stars as they glistened and shone. With teary eyes, he said." You would be proud of my decision wouldn't you?"

After a moment, he walked over and flopped onto his bed. He looked over at the clock, _20:30(8:30)_, he didn't care, he wouldn't get much sleep anyway.

"Can you believe him!" Judy snarled as she paced back-and-forth in the living room. She had been doing this the past 30 minutes since Jacob had told her the news, since then she had sent Lauren to bed, she didn't want her to see her this mad." After what happened to his father, he wants to join the marines!"

"Judy calm down." Travis said. He had been trying to calm her down but was starting to lose his patience.

" Don't tell me to calm down!" She snapped." My son is wanting to go out and get himself killed all for a war that can't and will not be won!"

" And exactly what makes you think this war is un-winnable?" Travis said, getting off the couch with the help of his crutches." Just maybe, if we believe, we may win this war."

Judy sighed." There is no more belief."

Travis couldn't take it anymore." I know why you're really doing this, and it has nothing to do with you thinking this war is un-winnable." Travis said. Judy looked away from him, not saying a word." You're doing this because of Carl," Travis said." ,you think because Carl died that he will die too."

Judy whirled around." Well it's a high possibility!" She snapped.

" And I'm sure he knows that, as sure as I am that Carl knew it too. But he's willing to help out the best way he thinks possible."

" But-"

Travis put his hand up, silencing her, his expression softened." There's something you've got to understand now." He put a comforting hand on her shoulder." Jacob's growing up, he's old enough to make his own decisions. And this is something that's not just going to go away, so you are going to need to talk to him about it."

Judy hung her head. She knew he was right. She was just, like all moms, having a hard time accepting the fact that her child was growing up. But even still, she didn't want him to go to war... and she didn't know any mother who wanted their child to go to war. She then thought over what this war was for. The survival of humanity, the peace of not only earth but God knew how any other planets occupied by humanity. Then she thought about what she had said about Carl. Was this war un-winnable? Did he die for nothing? No. It couldn't have been, Carl had not died for nothing. His sacrifice would not go in vain.

After a long moment of mental debating, she sighed and said." I don't know, I'll think about it."

Travis smiled." Good. Just remember..." He said as he started to hobble over to the stairs." Carl didn't sacrifice himself for nothing, everything happens for a reason." With that, he hobbled up the stairs.

After a few minutes, she too walked upstairs into her room. She sat on her bed and rested her head in her hands. She stayed this way for a long time, thinking of whether or not to talk any further to him about it. After a while she just sighed and laid in her bed. Her gaze met a picture of her, Carl and Jacob." What would you do, Carl?" She whispered. After a while, her eyes drooped and she fell to sleep. She didn't know it, but in 2 weeks, her son would be in training with the UNSC marine corps.

_2 weeks later_

Lauren got up from bed at about 10:00 P.M., yawned and rubbed her eyes and walked out of her room. She felt a little hungry so she though to get a midnight snack and head back to bed.

As she did, she heard something in Jacobs room.

Curious, she opened the door...And saw Jacob about ready to climb out the window.

Jake, surprised, whipped his head around. He sighed in relief when he saw it was Lauren.

"What are you doing?" Lauren asked.

Jacob sighed, and walked over to her, he knelt down and put both his hands on her shoulders." I'm going away."

"Where are you going?"

" Umm." Jacob pondered. He had never encountered this kind of situation. What does one say to their little sister? He didn't like withholding the truth from her, but he didn't want to make her worried." I can't say for sure." He half lied. If he did join the marines he didn't know where they would send him.

"When will you be back." She said, sniffling.

Jacob paused." I don't know." Jacob saw she was on the verge of crying." Hey, it's okay, I'll come back."

" But I don't want you to go." She said, wiping tears from her eyes." I want you to stay here with us."

Jacob bit his lower lip. He loved his little sister, but he knew he had to do this, he felt he had to serve the colony. Then an Idea popped into his head." Tell ya what," He said getting up and walking toward his dresser, he grabbed the chest from the top and opened it up. He reached inside and pulled the medal out an showed to Lauren." This medal was given to me by dad before he..." He cleared his throat." It's one of my most valued possessions, and while I'm gone I'd like for someone to look after this." He said

Lauren jumped with excitement." I'll do it!" She chirped.

Jacob shushed her. He had hoped she had not woke up anybody. After a moment, it didn't seem like anyone had woken up. He turned back to her and smiled." Okay, I'll trust you to it. Just make sure you don't lose it." He told her.

"Okay." She replied, grinning ear-to-ear.

Jacob smiled." Good, now go get some sleep." He told her.

She smiled and walked toward the door." And don't forget to put the medal in the chest." He reminded her.

"Okay." She walked back into the room, toward the chest and reached for the chest...then paused. After a moment, she turned around towards her brother and gave him hug." Goodbye, Jake." She said.

He knelt down and hugged her back." Goodbye, Lauren." After a moment, Lauren let go, grabbed the chest and put the medal inside the chest before going back to her room.

Jacob watched. He would miss his home, that was for sure. But he remembered he was going to defend his home...everyone's home." Just like dad." He whispered to himself, he grabbed a few things he knew he would need, put them in a sack and crawled out the window, trying not to make a sound.

Jacob walked down the road for a little while. He had already signed up for the marines on his birthday, 7 days later he was told a bus would pick him up in 7 days, along with the rest of his platoon. There was just one thing that needed to be done before he left.

He arrived at his destination. A two story brick house sat 50 yards from the sidewalk. He walked towards it.

Once he made it to the porch, he latched hold of the pillars and climbed his way to the top of the porch balcony.

Once he reached the top, he slowly and carefully made his way to the window and peeked inside.

Once he knew it was her, he knocked on the window, not loud enough for anyone else but her to hear.

"Sam." He whispered, hoping to get her attention.

He heard a groan, and saw her rise up from bed. Sam looked over Jake's direction." Jake?" She said.

She then got out of bed, walked over to the window and opened it." This had better be a life or death situation." She grumbled.

Samantha Fox was a teenager, just 3 days younger than Jacob himself. She had scarlet red hair that came down to her shoulders, sky blue eyes, a slim, toned, elegant figure and a witty attitude. She was in her Pajamas and during the day she usually wore a pair of jeans and a T-shirt with a smart comment on it, such as"He who laughs last, thinks slowest", and personally, Jacob thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever met...But he kept that part to himself.

" Well, I just came by to say..well, goodbye." He replied.

She frowned." You mean you came all the way here, woke me up in the middle of the night just to say goodbye? Are you on some new medication?" She asked irritatedly. Jacob just looked down.

Sam thought she had hurt him and put a hand on his shoulder." Hey, I was just kidding."

No, it's not that." He replied. He looked up into her eyes." I'm leaving."

Samantha's eyes grew wide as saucers." What!" She exclaimed.

Jake put two fingers on her lips and shushed her." I don't want to wake up you're whole family." He said quietly.

He put his fingers down, and he didn't notice it, but Sam's cheeks flushed." Where are you going?"

" Joining the UNSC marine corps." He replied.

Samantha raised a brow, staring at him for long moment before finally asking." Are you sure your not on some new medication?"

Jacob rolled his eyes." Yes Sam, I'm positive I'm not on a new medication."

" Then you've gone nuts." Sam replied. Before Jacob could reply she said." If they ship you out then.." She paused, and Jacob saw her eyes were starting to tear up." Then you may never come back."

" Don't worry, you'll see me again." He said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder." I promise."

She looked at him for a moment, she was still unsure of the whole thing. Finally she nodded." Okay."

Jacob smiled." Good." With that he started to leave.

But before he could turn around Sam stopped him, brought his face to hers and kissed him.

"What the-" Jacob thought to himself. He felt numb, his thoughts were fuzzy, then he noticed her lips, they were so warm and soft. His eyelids drooped and he kissed her back, and his arms wrapped around her waist on their own accord.

After a moment, they broke the kiss. Jacob, his head still fuzzy, was the first one to talk." What was that for?"

Sam smiled warmly." That's just something I've been wanting to do for a long time."

He chuckled." Well, now I've got another reason to come back." They both laughed at the little joke.

After a moment of staring at each other, Samantha said." Be careful."

" You got it." He winked. After another short kiss he climbed down and walked away from the house.

He walked until he got to a bus stop, he waited there for about 15 minutes before his bus showed up. Once the door opened, he climbed inside and took a seat among his future platoon.

**00:05 hours May 22nd 2546, Planet Earth, Camp Lejeune NC. **

Jacob's bus arrivedat it's destination. For a while they just sat there, waiting for when they had to go.

After about 10 minutes, the doors opened and someone walked in.

Jacob could tell from the start he was a marine Gunnery Sergeant. Gunnery Sergeant Jackson was the senior drill instructor(DI) in the base. An African-American, he stood at about 6'1, weighed about 200 pounds and, from what Jacob could see, was serious about staying in shape. He stood there and talked to the bus driver. He didn't look un-friendly, quite to the contrary, he even cracked a smile as he was talking to the bus driver. 10 seconds later that all changed once he glared out at the passengers." You Maggots have 10 seconds to get off of this bus!" He bellowed, catching every one by surprise."I'm going to count down from ten. Any of you that's left when I reach zero will die!

He started to count down and everybody scrambled for the door. Amazingly, everyone made it off before the countdown reached zero.

Once they were outside, the sergeant walked up and started yelling again." Line up! Straighten up! Close it up! I want a single file line!"

In the next three hours they had showered, had all their hair cut off, identification pictures taken and uniforms issued and packed away their civilian cloths. They had any personal item confiscated from them and were transported to the squad bay. Once they were there, a sergeant major walked through one of the doors." Sit down men." He said calmly." You must be tired from your trip."

They sat down. The sergeant went on about the challenges they would face, to not give up and keep going. He told them that the war would be won by the marines and that they would be the ultimate fighting force." You're DI's will be here in a moment, just remember that you all can make it." With that, he left the room.

After he left, Jacob started to think, this place wasn't that bad. He had heard how the sergeants break you down and make you a soldier or get you to quit. Where was that? Where was any of that? He thought the DI's would come out, shake their hands and welcome them to Camp Lejeune.

When the DI's walked in, he would figure out just how wrong he was...and what kind of inferno he had joined.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**06:30 hours, August 25th, 2546(military calender)/ Sol System, Planet Earth, Fort Benning, GA**

He never liked airports, he just didn't. Insurrectionist assassins made traveling _anywhere _adangerous trek. The thought of the enemy watching your every move made him a little more cautious, and respectively so. Granted, their hadn't been an insurrectionist attack since 2537, the human covenant war had put a good bit of a stop to that, but still there was that chance. He looked at his watch, _06:30 _hours. Perfect, five minutes from the airport, fifteen minutes to get his ticket, check through security and get to his flight, he would be early again.

He always switched up how he went around the base so no one could predict his pattern, take a different road than the last and take a different car than the last.

His well trimmed mustache and the hair that was still on his shaved head(It can't all come off by shaving can it) was tinted a slight gray but still retained most of it's original black color. Some wrinkles showed on his forehead and sides of his mouth. Even at the age of 38, he was looking in his mid to late forties, but, then again, not many people wouldn't after the experiences he'd been through.

Major General Robert Shepard had a very decorated past. He finished high school early and joined the army in 2524 when he was sixteen. He applied for officer school at west point and had passed with flying colors and was promoted to the rank of Captain, earning him a nice salary to support himself. He had participated in Operation: TREBUCHET, where he and the one hundred forty men under his command had their first combat experience. He had been stationed on Tribute at the time, working along side the marines stationed there, who were under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Aboim. Tough soldiers, the marines were in Shepard's mind, and they had earned his respect for them.

He had participated in the operation against the rebel bomb makers, but he had not participated in the operation at the Jim Dandy restaurant, where he had heard of the insurrectionists detonating a bomb that had killed two of their own, thirty eight civilians, three marines and had wounded many others. He hated it when it seemed the bad guys won. But that bomb was nothing compared to what had happened at Harvest. He had been at tribute when he heard about an unknown ship entering the system, which turned out to belong to an mixture of different alien races known only as "The covenant".

He had only heard about what they did to the Harvest colony, and even that sent chills up his spine. Turning most of a planet into a glittering ball of glass made him feel sick to his stomach, especially when also thinking about the people who were still on the planet as it was glassed. He may not have witnessed Harvest... But that didn't mean he didn't witness the covenant doing it to the other colony planets.

He was then transferred to the colony world of Madrigal. The reason so was it was the closest colony world to Harvest and the folks at HIGHCOM didn't want it unprotected. In 2528, the covenant arrived at Madrigal and launched a ground offensive. In a fierce, bloody, unforgiving 8 week skirmish, most of the military forces stationed there were either dead or missing and Shepard had led a brigade sized element of men from different branches, from UNSC Navy to Army and Marines across part of the northern part of the planet. Their had been pretty fierce firefights but Shepard, through superior tactics, prevailed through them with minimal casualties. He had then led the force to an old space station and found an old colonial transport ship, which he used to transport the force off of the planet before the covenant had glassed it. But Shepard watched... he watched as the covenants plasma bombarded the planet... He sat there at a cargo window and watched helplessly... He could do nothing but sit there and watch.

On the ship, they followed Cole Protocol and made a randomized slipstream space jump back to the nearest friendly controlled colony, where he was awarded the Medal of Honor for extraordinary acts of devotion and bravery for his soldiers in the face of a superior foe and was given the rank of Brigadier General. But his biggest reward was something he had not expected and he thought only happened in fairy tails... He fell in love. During their operations on the ground, the covenant were gathering civilians and were about to execute them when he showed up. The moment he laid eyes on her he was in love. Nine months later, they were married.

He had since led his brigade into battles in Eridanus II, the battle of Arcadia. But it was the battle of New Constantinople that would change his career. His brigade had been ambushed on the ground and out of the five thousand men under his command, only two hundred and eighty made it. Though the the men under his command fought bravely, they only gave the covenant a little bruise. He wanted his men pulled out but then he was informed that there was nothing they could do at this point because there had been sightings of covenant ships coming around the planet... he watched as the planet was glassed... it was just as horrifying as the last... only this time, his men were down there... Being killed in the worst way possible. Even if they survived the initial blast, they couldn't have survived on the planet for long.

He personally vowed to never lose another battle like he lost this one... And that's when he though of Project 82.

In 2537, he had passed the evaluation and was promoted to Major General. He then stated the idea of Project 82 to the brass of ONI. But they turned it down, saying it would cost too much for the military and would be a waste in valuable resources. But then he countered with something they couldn't refuse..._He_ would pay for the project. But the project would cost an estimated 153.2 billion dollars just to get under way. That was a lot of money, and it was an amount he didn't have. But, ever relenting, he worked hard to find a solution to this problem, and after six months of hard work, he found his solution... private investors.

These private investors were filthy rich, some of the wealthiest men in all of the colony's. These men were literally swimming in their money. Because of the businesses they ran, ammunition, ship engines, weapons, etc. they were kept well funded by the military, PMC's, civilians just wanting to arm themselves in case of an attach or wanted a quality engine for their ship and etc. . And each had one goal in mind... keep that business. So when Shepard offered the survival of their business, they couldn't refuse. He'd had over 90 different investors, 97 to be exact, into this program, each donating a fair amount of money to the project.

But now he was faced with another dilemma... who to find to make this project the best it can be. He had searched the military for any personal he saw good enough to make the cut for the project. Fortunately, this was a little easier than he thought, but it was by no means easy. He had found over ten thousand soldiers in a period of one and a half years. Unfortunately, however, there was a problem, a big one. Most of the men he saw good enough were either in prison or going to prison. And when he showed this to the spooks at ONI, they immediately had their own little agendas for the use of this unit.

It shocked him that they had turned his own project around but there was nothing he could do but follow along. Besides, he had invested too much already to quit now.

Over the next 7 years they were gathering the soldiers where they were needed to be and it was growing stronger. Every problem was overcome, weapons and equipment were handled by Private UNSC contractors, funding supplies was handled by the investors. But now the last two phases of Project 82 were in affect. One was creating, what was codenamed, Spade phase for Project 82 and the next was fully implementing them into combat and proving their effectiveness in combat.

That was why he was heading to camp Lejeune. He arrived at the air port, parked and had his car driven into a safe place by one of the employees as he entered the airport. He registered his flight, took his luggage and arrived at the inspecting part of the flight. The guards, who were also military personal, saluted Shepard as he walked up to them. He nodded." At ease."

The head guard, named Mike and a friend of Shepard's, walked up to him and pulled out his metal detector. He followed procedure and allowed him check for any weapon on him. Same thing as always.

"Clear." Mike said as he put the metal detector back onto it's strap.

" So how've you been doin' Shepard?" Mike asked.

" Great, my wife's due this January to have another kid." He stated proudly.

Mike smiled." Congratulations sir. And how old are you're kids now?"

" Seventeen, fifteen, fourteen, eleven, nine and five." Shepard replied.

Mike laughed." God, Alice must be some woman."

Shepard chuckled a little." She's afraid I'll run around while I'm away so she robs me of my energy when she can to keep me grounded." Then he leaned closer and quietly said." To tell the truth, these trips are the only thing keeping me alive. The woman's got a vice grip!" He chuckled.

" Well, when you see here again, tell her and the kids I said hi, alright?"

" Sure thing." Shepard smiled.

Mike stopped writing and gestured to the walk through metal detector. Unlike the other one Mike had, this one was more met for finding weapons in the luggage. He had a briefcase in his right hand and a duffel bag in the left. He handed the case to Mike." You know what's in this." He whispered as he handed it to him and started to walk to the detectors.

Mike rolled his eyes and let out a snort." You're still carrying this thing around?"

Shepard looked over his shoulder." That "thing" saved my life on one of my business trips." The case itself was nothing special. What the case contained was what made it special. On the handle there was a small ring, attached to that ring was a strong metal wire, which looped through a couple pf pulleys in the case and at the end of the wire was a specially made 9mm hand gun. Once the wired has been pulled, the gun will go off, simple as that.

And it did save his life in one incident. On his way to his apartment building, a mugger had pointed a pistol at him and told him to drop the case and give him any kind of valuable he had. Fortunately, as luck would have it, he took Shepard from the front, so Shepard pulled the string and the mugger fell dead.

He walked through the detector, nothing." Clear." Mike said." Okay sir, you're cleared."

Shepard nodded, then glanced at the case." Make sure to put that case in a secure area of the plane, that's an order." Shepard said.

Mike nodded." Yes sir." With that, Shepard boarded the plane, got to his seat and settled down for some sleep. It was going to be a long flight...

**08:00 hours, August 27th, 2546(Military Calender)/ Sol System, Planet Earth, Camp Lejeune, NC.**

"Let me start by saying you should all be proud this day." Lt. Col Jack Chaffe said to the group of 120 marines who had graduated from training for the UNSC Marine Corps. Jacob was among the crowd. He could not believe he had actually passed through the "training"_ More like hell on earth, _Jacob thought. That "hell" had made him a different person than he was, he learned in the marine corps, the man on your left and right are your best friends, the DI's made sure that all recruits new that, as well as giving a new sense of pride, the pride that he passed through something not many do and having the pride and honor to defend the colony's of the human race.

All recruits were given, what the DI's called, Bio-Augmentations. The DI's said it would help their reflexes, speed and stamina. But they were given very few of these, due to danger of the augmentations themselves killing the recruits if given too many of the formulas that were used. He had heard the DI's talk about rumors of men being twisted from the inside out and no longer looking human from these augmentations. But since they were given such a low quantity they didn't have to worry, all recruits reported nausea, difficulty to stand and/or moderate to severe headaches. They were reassured that these were just side affects and were a good sign, meaning their bodies were re-adjusting themselves due to their faster reflexs.

" Today, you have carried the torch of our brethren before, and carry a title that few have the pride, honor and privilege to carry, the title of UNSC marines." Chaffe continued." Since the revolutionary war, marines have been the forefront of all services, carrying out their duties whenever they are called upon to serve, and now this honor is passed down to you. You are the few, the proud, the brave. Welcome to the Corps." Chaffe concluded. He looked over at the DI's on his left and nodded to them and left.

The DI's walked out to the recruits and gave them the final piece that would make them marines... A piece that had been given to them since 1868.

The first DI walked right to Jacob, who was in the front with a row of the other recruits he had trained with. Jacob saw it was Jackson with a camouflage plate in one hand, he noticed every other DI was carrying one as well. Jackson walked up to Jacob." Reach out your left hand." Jacob did so." You, along with all of these recruits, have earned the title UNSC Marine, something many don't have the pride of saying truthfully, and I am proud to have been one of your DI's." He took something off the plate and set it in Jacobs hand. In his hand now rested the emblem of the marine corps, it consisted of a globe of the western hemisphere of earth, intersected by a fouled anchor, and surmounted by an eagle with it's wings spread wide. The emblem is topped off by a ribbon inscribed with the Latin motto "_Simper Fidelis_", meaning "always faithful"

" A marine is always faithful." Jackson reached up and shook Jacobs hand." Welcome to the corps."

All marines who had trained in Camp Lejeune given 1 weeks leave from all duties, the next week they would be prepped for transport to their theater of operation. But they were also told they would be participating in an exercise tomorrow at 10:00 hours, so they advised a good nights sleep.

Jacob was transported back in a bus again back to Fayetteville. On the way there he kept thinking about how to explain to his family why he had been gone for the past 3 months, especially his mom. How does one tell their family they went and did something that they were directly told not too_." Hey mom, __in case you haven't noticed, I've been gone for the last 13 weeks because I joined the Marine Corps, which you told me not to do by the way."_"Yeah." Jacob laughed in his mind." That'd work if I wanted to die an early death."

Jacob was left at a bus stop 2 hours later. He carried his duffel bag out of the bus and walked onto the streets of his hometown. He still could not find the right words for his family. "_Looks like I'll have to __improvise."_ Jacob thought as he approached his house's front door.

He knocked, no answer. He knocked again, still no answer. Curious, he twisted the door knob, it was un-locked. He raised a brow and opened the door and walked inside. It was dark, Jake was on edge. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark and walked into the house. The front door was actually _in_ the living room, to his right was a stair case that led to another hallway up stairs with 4 doors, one that led into his room, the on the opposite side led to his sisters room, his moms room beside that and his grandpa's room the opposite from that. Each room had a small bathroom, which Carl and Judy had installed them selves. Each containing a toilet, sink, towel rack and shower.

He felt around for a light switch. Once he found one he flicked it on, and got the shock of his life. All of a sudden people burst from their hiding places and screamed." Welcome home Jacob!"

Jacob stood in wide eyed shock with is mouth dropped on the floor. All around him were family, friends and a huge banner pinned up along the wall that said" Welcome home Marine".

His mom walked up to him and Jacob was brought back to reality." Mom, I-"

She cut him off with a dismissive hand, smiled, then after a moment she wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered." Welcome home... Marine."

Jacob went wide eyed but after moment just smiled and returned the hug... After 13 weeks of mud, blood and sweat... he was finally home.

Lt. Col. Chaffe waited at the landing pad as the Pelican touched down. It was late at night, and a full moon now took over the night sky. It was a very clear night as well, and he could see very well, even without the aid of night vision goggles. Lt. Col Chaffe sighed as he remembered nights like this in the field, where you were always scoping out the areas for covenant activity. He had fought with his troops on the ground and knew exactly how the covenant liked to operate... he'd seen so from the marines that had died before his very eyes. Once the pelican had been landed the rear hatch opened up and 5 figures stepped out.

Once they had all exited the aircraft, six of the seven snapped to attention and gave a crisp salute, while the 5th, a much shorter figure, walked up to Chaffe.

The Lt. Col nodded." At ease." They did so. He looked at the 5th figure." Good evening Ms. Halsey."

Doctor Catherine Halsey nodded ." Good evening Colonel." She greeted." Is everything in place?"

The Colonel nodded." Everything is set for tomorrows exercise. The Spartans sleeping quarters are arranged as well, a couple transport hog's will be arriving shortly ."

"Good."

"Tell me again, what's the importance of this exercise?" Chaffe asked." I've got a company of marines that need to be shipped out within the next 14 days, I can't have any seriously injured marines going into combat."

" Trust me colonel, this exercise is more important than I'm allowed to discuss." Halsey said."And don't worry, this exercise won't cause serious injury, so you're marines will be shipped out as scheduled."

Chaffe sighed." I hope so, there's one marine in particular that I know is going to be effective in the field."

" How so?"

Chaffe chuckled." He's the most adaptive marine I've seen, he and a team of 4 took on a course that takes an average marine twenty one minutes to complete, he and his team passed in in seven."

Halsey raised a brow." How long was the record for passing the course."

" Eight minutes more than what it took Reynolds." Chaffe replied." Plus he's a crack shot with a shotgun and equally as efficient with an assault rifle and has even shown some capability with an M6." He chuckled." Best yet, he's crafty, cunning and can and will hide in places you would never suspect and cap you when you least expect it. Christ, I wouldn't be surprised if he capped one or two of your SPARTANS."

Halsey gave an amused smile." We'll see Colonel." Halsey said.

Two minutes later the warthogs showed up and transported the SPARTANS to their quarters.

Halsey was confident in her SPARTANS, as she had always been. They were the best of the best that the UNSC could offer and then some. They had the best equipment, training and expertise of any soldier in the UNSC, they had also seen more combat than any soldier in the UNSC. No matter how good this "Reynolds" character was, he was still just human, he had not gone through all the training that the SPARTANS had gone through, or the augmentations the SPARTANS had. Bottom line, there was no way that these marines, or anyone for that matter, would be able to defeat these SPARTANS...And tomorrow would be no different than any other exercise against the marines.

Jacob breathed in the fresh air as he stared out the side of the UH-144 Falcon. He had never flown before, so this was quite an experience.

The UH-144 was a piece of work, in Jacobs opinion. With a pilot controlled chin-mounted chain gun, two side mounted guns and the capability of carrying 4 troops in her cabin, 2 could drop off a fully equipped Combat squad and give them support as well.

He was in a flight of about 12 of these birds, each carrying 4 men and women in her cabin. They were all briefed on the objective, 72 marines were entrenched but still in need of support to defend against the opposing force(OPFOR). Their objective was to bring in heavy weapons, such as AIE-486H Heavy machine guns, auto turrets, proximity mines etc.

This exercise was actually a simulation, a very realistic one. The marine company and the pilots and gunners were all actually on a special table, and a special pair of goggles mounted onto a arm like device that is put over your eyes. The soldiers mind is put into a relaxation projected the marines into a false environment via through the brains receptors. It was, to quote their sergeant," _The closest thing to real combat. It don't kill ya but it hurts..ALOT!_".

Jacob wondered what kind of force was attacking. What kind of force could overpower 2 platoons of entrenched marines? Fortunately, that wasn't Jacobs concern, he had only one objective, neutralize all OPFOR.

The Falcons flew fast and low above the tree canopy, causing Jacob to grip the hand railing above him tighter. They were going to make a fast insertion 30 meters behind the main battle perimeter, all boots(marines) and equipment out in less than 2 minutes. This wasn't easy but, then again, the job of a marine was not an easy one. The Falcon dropped to the ground. Once the gunner, who was also the crew chief, knew that they were down he, turned to Jacob and yelled." Go! Go! Go!"

Jacob, who was the team Sergeant in this exercise, since it was seen that each recruit have experience with leader ship so if, for example, their team leader had been killed or unable to stay in the fight, another marine may be able to carry on, helped Private William Gurrza, a marine whom he had befriended during training, carry out the AIE-486 HMG, while the third marine, named Rutang, carried out the tripod while the forth, named Stanford, swept his BR-55 left to right, scanning for targets and covering them.

In less than one minute and thirty seconds, all boots and equipment had been unloaded from the Falcons and were moving to their positions.

The crew chief of the Falcon Jacob was in radioed the pilot." All boots and gear unloaded."

" Roger that." The pilot replied, he then switched the radio channel to all birds." All eagle's, this is Eagle lead, return to ZULU." With that, the Falcons took off and headed back to the air station code named "ZULU".

" Set up the MG's in positions where they'll have overlapping fields of fire with each other." Captain John Summers ordered. Fresh out of the officers academy, he was a young, eager and, at times, cocky individual who was ready for combat.

Jacob and his team did as they were told and set the MG up in a ditch 70 yards away from another MG.

Jacob fed the ammunition into the feeder. There was seven hundred and fifty rounds of ammo on this belt and they had another three thousand rounds on back up.

Jacob saw Gurrza laugh." Hey Jake, ya think we got enough firepower?"

Jacob shrugged." I don't know, if they just have infantry, we can take 'em. If they have tanks on the other hand, we're screwed."

" Can the chatter marines!" A voice barked from beside Reynolds and his team. Jacob snapped his head around and saw John Lorenzo, his squad commander.

Unlike Reynolds, Lorenzo actually _was _a Sergeant. During training, he had shown excellent command ability and after graduation, was given the promotion to Staff Sergeant. He was fairly short, stood about five foot eight, only weighed about one hundred seventy five pounds. But most of the best soldiers aren't the walking tanks, but the light fighters. Reynolds, along with the rest of his team, stood at attention and snapped a salute." Apology sir." Reynolds said.

Lorenzo returned the salute." Accepted, now as you were, men." They eased a little." First off, don't salute anyone around anymore, the enemy may have snipers and will try to pick off to CO's and NCO's."

"Sorry sir." Jacob replied.

Lorenzo nodded in acceptance." Second, I heard we're fighting some boys from NAVSPECWAR, so stay frosty, I wanna keep casualties to a minimum."

"Yes sir." They replied. The sergeant turned and walked away towards another set of recruits.

Rutang walked up to Jake." What's the sarge mean by keeping" casualties to a minimum"? It's not like this simulation is really gonna kill us."

" He's taking the op seriously, something we should do." Stanford said as he was cleaning his weapon.

James Stanford wasn't one to talk. He was quite, to the point being one of the scariest recruits among them. His sharp shooting made that aspect all the more frightening. During training he had amazing eyesight, he could spot the numbers on fighters flying over at full speed, that earned him a few beers from bets that were made. He only spoke when spoken to or felt it necessary. He always wore an emotionless expression, so no one could know exactly what he was thinking. Jacob was just glad he on their side, if he was one of the people fighting them there was no prediction on how many head shots would be made. For some reason he always ended up hitting the target in the head, even when speed was needed, and even then he could hit targets so fast it was extremely hard to tell which one he hit first. Some of the recruits thought it was luck, others thought it was a gift, Jacob thought it was just plain scary.

Jacob nodded." Right." He turned to Rutang." Rutang, I want you and Gurrza to stay with the MG, if anyone attacks, these guns will be our second line of defense."

" What's our first?" Gurrza asked.

" Mortars, 120 milometers." Jacob said." They have a special air-burst function once they hit 30 feet, then they burst open and, in this case, rain simulated death onto the target." Jacob couldn't help but chuckle a bit at that last part." And that's where the OP's(Observation posts) come in. If they see any hostiles, they'll designate the targets and the mortar teams will do the rest."

Rutang rubbed his chin and wrinkled his fore head." And what about friendly fire?" Rutang always wanted the details, from defense set up to what was being had for lunch. He never wanted anything left unchecked. And it annoyed Gurrza, who just wanted to know where the action was.

" They've set up some overhead cover, six inch thick logs, topped with some dirt and some sod on top and a small tunnel they can get into." Jacob replied." Which is also why we chose air-burst, more area damage, less chance of friendly fire since they won't penetrate the tunnel."

Gurrza grinned." Sounds like the Cap'n really thought things through."

" Well I guess we'll have to find that out." Jacob said with a smile.

Two hours had gone by slowly. Since then, Jacob had made sure his team had kept a sharp eye on things and didn't become too cocky, remembering his fathers words" Arrogance is how stupid people die". Sure, no one was going to die in this exercise but still he wanted to make sure his team wasn't nailed by doing something easily prevented.

Stanford had set himself up in a sniper blind, set up so he could see most everything around the defense but no one could see him.

Jacob walked up to the blind and opened the mesh net covered in leafs that acted as a door." See anything yet?"

Stanford shook his head, still keeping an eye on the tree line nine hundred meters away from them.

Jacob sighed." Well, keep on your guard, and keep us posted if you see anything." Stanford gave a thumbs up in acknowledgment.

Jacob closed the blind and walked towards a boulder. He sat down and leaned back on the rock. He then set down his rifle and pulled a pair of binoculars and scanned the tree line ahead of them. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, lots of bushes, lots of trees, and...

" What the..." Jacob said to himself as he looked into the treeline. He saw a flash of green, then it disappeared. He lowered the binoculars, got up into a crouched position and turned the com channel on his helmet radio to one of the OP's, codenamed Bravo one-zero, in that area." Bravo one-zero, this is Bravo one-one, you have movement in your area at sector Juliet, over." The radio just crackled static. After a moment he tried to contact them again." Bravo one-zero, I say again, you have movement in sector Juliet, over." Still no answer, causing Jacob to go on edge." Bravo one-zero, this is Bravo one-one, do you read, over?" Same answer as before, silence." This can't be good." He leaned to the right to grab his rifle but then he heard a round clap right next to his head.

On reflex, he tucked and rolled behind the rock with his rifle and switched his radio channel to radio Summers." Kilo one, this is Bravo one-one! We are under attack, I say again, we are under attack!"


End file.
